APHRC - från SRHR forskning till policy-påverkan 2018-2024

1. In July 2023, APHRC was invited by the Kenyan Ministry of Health, Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH), to participate in the Adolescent and School Health Technical Working Group meeting. The Adolescent Health Policy addresses issues affecting pregnant and parenting adolescents and their children. The policy also advocates for the inclusion of adolescents children in the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF). APHRC used its expertise in adolesecent health research to provide feedback on the draft Adolescent Health Policy, and in particular, APHRC advocated for including street children as part of adolescents living in fragile settings. APHRC also raised the issue of mistreatment and abuse of adolescents in clinics. The Ministry committed to including street children as part of adolescents living in fragile settings and mistreatment and abuse in clinics in the policy. 2. In Malawi, CSOs, traditional and religious leaders developed a communication strategy on safe abortion called "Knowledge is power", following the advocacy training APHRC had done on the topic. The advocacy and communication strategy enable CSOs and religious leaders to better engage around the issues on abortion (using evidence). 3. CSOs have long advocated for abortion rights issues in Liberia with little success because of policymakers' opposition to the issue of rights. APHRC's policy advocacy and capacity strengthening sessions on communication with CSOs and media in Liberia have strengthened their capacities to use evidence to advocate for the Liberia Public Health Law. APHRC has drawn on data from the study on the incidence of abortion and severity of complications, which highlights the negative and sometimes fatal health implications of restrictive policies. Through this initiative, APHRC has empowered stakeholders in SRHR advocacy to influence the law and propose the much-needed SRHR interventions in the country to policy actors. For instance, in March 2023, over 20 CSOs in Liberia, the Liberia Ministry of Health, and other SRHR stakeholders convened a technical retreat to review the proposed Liberia Public Health Law, which led to the joint senate hearing on the passage of the health law. Different policy actors can now use the evidence to easily engage and persuade other policy actors and decision-makers to be more receptive, accelerate change, and encourage them to shift their understanding of abortion-related issues, thereby making it easier to have discussions on how to mitigate the barriers to reversing the policies. 4. During 2023, APHRC trained a SRHR coalition in Sierra Leone on the development of an advocacy strategy and a communication plan to champion the legislation of the Safe Motherhood Bill. From APHRC's engagements, members of the alliance together with other CSOs in the country sought dialogue with parliamentarians and the president to advocate for the approval of the Bill and an implementation budget. PARHA has attested to the fact that the training that APHRC has offered, enabled them to engage with policy makers. It has also enabled them to create advocacy plans and guided them in how to influence the policy process. In addition, the capacity strengthening of the CSOs has created a movement of CSOs that advocate for SRHR issues and the CSOs share knowledge across countries. 5. In 2023, community health workers in Burkina Faso reported a shift in their attitudes towards contentious SRHR issues following a VCAT training workshop and a presentation of findings from the study on the lived experiences of pregnant and parenting adolescents in Burkina Faso conducted by APHRC. The workshop was motivated by the need to prepare community health workers and other stakeholders to positively engage with adolescent mothers From the fourth quarter of 2023, community health workers who participated in the training have been facilitating life skills training for adolescent mothers. 6. In July 2023, religious leaders, local leaders, healthcare providers, and law enforcement officers participated in the workshops held to validate the LGBTQI studies in Kenya. This symbolizes a positive change in attitudes toward LGBTQI community. Participants also reported that LGBTQI people face less stigma and discrimination while seeking healthcare services in public health facilities. In addition, organizations were able to form ally ships in various stakeholder settings. The involvement of these stakeholders has a potential effect on the mindset around social exclusion.

The goal of the Challenging the Politics of Social Exclusion (CPSE) project, managed by APHRC (African Population Health Research Centre), is to generate and support the use of evidence to drive change and improve domestication and implementation of policies at national and regional levels that increase access to safe abortion for women, and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services for adolescents, and mitigate exclusion of sexual and gender minorities.